Fuse construction



Oct. 15. 194 A. G STEINMAYER FUSE CONSTRUCTION iled April 10. 1936 INVENTOR, Az L1///V 0. STEM/4Y5? BY Patented Oct. 15, 1940 ii i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FUSE CONSTRUCTION Alwin G. Steinmayer, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to line Material Company, South Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application April [0, 1936, Serial No. 73,652

. 2Claims. (Cl. ZOO-ill) This invention relates to a fuse construction. also provided with reduced cylindrical portions Objects of this invention are to provide a fuse terminating in end flanges 6. A pair of clampconstruction which is so made that when the ing straps l and 8 of approximat-ly semi-circufuse link is ruptured, a wide separation of the lar shape are positioned about each reduced end 5 parts is automatically obtained, in which any reportion 5 and are drawn together by means of 5 maining unburned portions of the fuse link, such the bolts 9.

as the leaders for instance, are thrown or dis- The terminal members may consist of spring charged from the device and are, therefore, not wire looped members [0 and I! For instance, left hanging in space. the member it] may be the upper .mmber and the Further objects are to provide a fuse construcmember I I the lower, as shown in Figure 1. These 10 tion which, as stated, provides for the automatic looped wire supporting members or terminal separation of the elements thereof when the fuse members; In and l I may be formed of any suitable is ruptured, but which nevertheless is extremely material, such, for example, as phosphor bronze. simple in its construction and has a very small They have their ends l2 and I3 extending through number of parts, and which may be cheaply proapertures formed in the clamping members I and i5 duced and readily installed. 8 and, as will be seen from Figure 2, when the Further objects are to provide a construction clamping members are drawn tight, the arms of which may be readily refused in a simple and the U-shaped wire spring terminal members Ill easy manner, as, for instance, by the use of a and II are drawn into binding contact with the switch stick without requiring the operator to reduced portion 50f the porcelain insulator. 013- 20 handle any live parts. viously any other means for clamping the mem- A further object is to provide a fuse construcbers I0 and H to the ends of the porcelain body tion in which leakage is prevented and a long portion may be employed. surface path is interposed between the support It is o vious that at least one of the arms l0 and both of the elements or terminal members, and H must be resilient, though it is preferable to and in which the arc is confined to a definite have both of them so. Nevertheless one alone point preferably in an insulating casing so that m y be res e a d t e other y e rigidthe arcing over between terminal members even e e e s in f ii are P under severe conditions is minimized, and in h pe as m y e se n fr Figure and r which the actual fusing takes place at a point respectively provided in their arm sections with 30 spaced a material distance from the insulating coiled POIiiOhS and 15 t e s t e re lbody portion so that there is no chance of the ience. The folded ends or doubled ends of the formation of a conducting or carbonized or mep g arms and II are P e with b tallic deposit film on the insulating body portion. portions l5 and IT a t Which e looped ends An embodiment of the invention is shown in of a fuse link are positioned. 35 the accompanying drawing, in which: The fuse link may consist of a fusible sec- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device with ion 18 p i i Within an insulating, n nparts in section showing the supporting elements bustible sheath or sleeve l9 and terminating in thereof or terminal members in full lines in their looped end p s or d s These l p d normal position and showing such elements in p t 20 re hooked over the hook p t s 40 their open position in dotted lines. and H.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 Any suitable connecting means may be proof Figure 1. vided, for instance, the connectors 2| and 22 by Referring to the drawing, it will be n th t means of which the conductors 23 and 24 maybe a porcelain or other insulating body portion or electrically connected to the arms l0 and II re- 45 main member I is provided and is preferably Spectively. equipped with a plurality of pettlcoats 0 skirt When an overload occurs, the fusible portion between the ends thereof and the central reduced 0f the e link is p d and t e arc is conportion 2. The supporting member may take fined within the sleeve l9. However, the spring any desired form and is preferably arranged as arms or terminal members l0 and H quickly pull 50 a clamp 3 which grips around the du d c ntr l the remaining or unburned sections of the fuse section 2 and which is attached to a supporting li k p rt d h e s ctions are thrown or bracket 4 adapted to be carried by a pole arm, flipp 0iT from the arms a d H, thereby for instance, discharging the remaining portion of the fuse The ends of the insulating body portion I are\ link from the device. 55

Even a slowly applied overload results in a quick breaking of the circuit.

Further it is to be noted that there is no likelihood of an are being established between the terminal members as the arc is confined within the sleeve I9 on the one hand and, on the other hand, as a quick and wide separation of the parts is provided.

In refusing the device it is a simple matter to carry the fuse on the end of a fuse stick or switch stick and hook one of the looped portions into the corresponding hooked portion of its terminal member. Thereafter such terminal member may be deflected until the other end of the fuse link can be hooked over the hooked portion of the other terminal member. Thereafter the switch stick is removed and the spring arms or terminal members adjust themselves, as shown in full lines in Figure 1.

It is apparent that by having the lower terminal member project laterally a lesser distance than the upper terminal member that in refusing it is easier for the lineman to refuse the device than if they both projected the same distance or ii the upper terminal member projected a lesser distance than the lower terminal member, for when the fuse link is attached to the lower terminal member, it may then be attached to the upper terminal member although the switch stick is in a substantially vertical position for there is no chance of the switch stick engaging the lower terminal member. Additionally, when the device operates, it is apparent that there is more chance for the looped ends of the fuse link to detach themselves from both the upper terminal mem her and the lower terminal member than would be the case if the device were otherwise arranged, for example as pointed out above, for during the outward motion of the terminal members each portion of the fuse link tends to swing into a vertical position and rock outwardly from the hooked ends andwill thus clear the hooked ends.

It will be seen that this fuse construction provides a wide separation when the fuse blows but nevertheless, though it has this automatic ac tion, it is of extremely simple construction and may be cheaply manufactured and easily installed.

Further, as pointed out hereinabove, refusing of the device is simple and may be quickly performed without endangering the lineman as he does not come in contact with any live parts whatsoever during this refusing operation.

Additionally, it is to be noted that actual fusing occurs at a point widely spaced from the insulatlng body portion and consequently no carboni'zed film or film due to a metallic deposit can be formed on the body portion. Consequently the body portion retains its full characteristic as an insulator no matter how many successive operations of fusing and refusing have taken place.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A circuit interrupting device comprising an insulating body portion having upper and lower ends, upper and lower spring wire terminal members having spaced legs located on opposite sides of the upper and lower ends of the body portion and having hooked outer ends and intermediate diverging portions from adjacent the hooked ends to adjacent the body portion, clamping mem bers encircling the upper and lower ends of the body portion and drawing the spaced legs of the terminal members into binding engagement with said body portion, and a fuse link having looped ends hooked over the hooked ends of said terminal members and tensioned by said terminal members.

2. In a circuit interrupting device including an insulator body having'upper and lower end portions cylindrical in cross-section, the combination with a pair of arcuate clamping members on each end portion and each having clamping ears projecting laterally of the body and paralleling adjacent corresponding ears on the other of said members, each of said members being apertured adjacent said ears, of upper and lower resilient wire terminal members having spaced legs located on opposite sides of said end portions and extending through said apertures, and clamping means on said ears holding said members in binding engagement with said body to thereby clamp said legs to said body.

ALWIN G. STEINMAYER. 

